The pics from today are really hard to look at
- poor Zara and poor horse...

Zara Phillips falls at the 25th jump as she competes on horse Ardfield
Magic Star during the cross country event on day three of The Land
Rover Burghley Horse Trials on September 6, 2008 in Stamford, UK.

It appears that she got right back on and completed the course. In Eventing, unlike showjumping, a fall does not automatically eliminate the competitor. Only if it is a 'rotational fall', ie flipped over.

Eventing is a very specialized area of equestrian sports. In Show Jumping (my area) the 6" diamiter poles are on safety break-away cups and any fall of the horse or rider is cause for elimination as well as multiple stops/refusals at the jump. In eventing, the poles are telephone poles (12-18" diamiter) hard wired into place with zero margin for error. Non rotational falls (anything other than flipping over) are not cause for elimination and the competitor can remount and finish the course, as you saw with Zara at this event. Eventing is considered the most dangerous of equestrian sports and is under discussion of being eliminated from the olympics. There have been many fatalities in the last 2 years of both horses and riders.

Zara Phillips at the Land Rover Party at the Burghley Horse
Trials, Stamford, Lincolnshire, Britain - 06 Sep 2008 - and
earlier that day signing copies of the new book '60 Years
of Land Rover' at a book signing at Burghley Horse Trials.

Eventing is a very specialized area of equestrian sports. In Show Jumping (my area) the 6" diamiter poles are on safety break-away cups and any fall of the horse or rider is cause for elimination as well as multiple stops/refusals at the jump. In eventing, the poles are telephone poles (12-18" diamiter) hard wired into place with zero margin for error. Non rotational falls (anything other than flipping over) are not cause for elimination and the competitor can remount and finish the course, as you saw with Zara at this event. Eventing is considered the most dangerous of equestrian sports and is under discussion of being eliminated from the olympics. There have been many fatalities in the last 2 years of both horses and riders.

Frankly there is a risk not only in this sport, but also in others; e.g. I remember some really bad accidents in fencing, worst of all the one in the world championship final in Rome 1985, where the russian rival of Matthias Behr was killed. Has anyone thought about eliminating fencing from the olympics? No. After all there is a risk in everything. One can improve security measures, but at the end of the day a sport like this, or like eventing will never be 100% save. Everyone knows it and everyone is volunteering, noone is forced to compete.

Thanks for the pictures of the dogs. However, I was surprised to see that her Boxer's tail is docked. Or do you say arrested? Well, I mean shortened by amputation . In Germany it is forbidden to do so, at least if you do not have medical reasons, e.g. an accident of the dog or so. How about England? Is ist normal there to shorten tails of Boxers?

Avicenna, I'm only sure about Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland,
the Scandinavian countries and France, in these countries "complete"
dogs (hanging ears and long tail) are the rule, but I'm not sure about
Great Britain.. Maybe a British member knows more